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Sandwrath
The Sandwrath was a creature that plagued Al Kharid for nearly six months. It was finally slain by Sirv Virgil Ingot, who nearly died in the process. He was helped invaluably by his squire, who stunned the beast while Virgil killed it, tossed a blade through sand shackles and killed it with a clever mix of water and air. Physiology The Sandwrath was no ordinary creature. It may not even have been a creature at all. The Sandwrath was made of sand. And not the same sand. It seems any grain of sand in the whole desert could be used in forming it. The first knight who tried to kill it slashed through it's stomach. He thought it dead when the sand fell to the desert floor, but the Sandwrath formed again from sand behind him, and stabbed him in the back. Whilst formed, the Sandwrath has no legs; instead, it has a long torso. It has shoulders, and spindly thin arms. It's fingers are long and clawed. It's head is line an elongated dog snout, although the mouth never opens. Once formed, a Sandwrath cannot move (since it has no legs). If it wishes to change location, it must dissolve and reform. The Sandwrath was able to clear incredible distances at a time, by dissolving on one side of the desert and reforming on the other. Abilities As mentioned above, the Sandwrath can dissolve and reform at will. This means that it is extremely hard to kill with blade or bow; it will dissolve before the weapon hits it. That is not it's only means of defence, however: when mages tried to slay the beast, it wielded the sand around it into large walls that took the damage of the spell. As well as it can defend itself, it is most proficient in offense. It can wield the sand into Chakarams (large, spiked wheels with spokes for grip). However, while the Chakaram is purely a melee weapon, the Sandwrath's Chakaram's are also remarkably suitable ranged weapons. When the Sandwrath throws it's Chakaram's, they can go on for some distance before arcing back to the Sandwrath in a manor similar to a boomerang. The Chakaram's are incredibly sharp, able to decapitate both humans and horses. Death Toll The Sandwrath has been known to have killed 1283 people. However, we do not know how many of these death's may have been faked so that Al Kharid would give out death settlements, or how many death's may have been made by lone travelers, which almost certainly would have been unreported. Goals It is completely unknown what the Sandwrath wanted, as it was unable (or unwilling) to vocalize. All attempts to reason with the creature has resulted in death. All translation spells have failed. All we know is that any living creature which strayed within the borders of the desert were killed brutally. The corpses were thrown into the River Lum by the Sandwrath. Diet We do not know if the Sandwrath ate anything. All of what it killed, it threw into the River Lum. If it ever ate anything, no one that saw is currently alive. If it never ate, this would support the theory that the Sandwrath is, in actual fact, a shade: A ghost/demon that uses it's surroundings to effect the physical world. This seems likely, but cannot be proved. The Final Battle The Sandwrath was killed six month's after it arrived in the desert, by Sir Virgil Ingot. Virgil strode to the middle of the desert with his squire, and shouted aloud. The Sandwrath, thus challenged, threw it's Chakaram's from afar at Virgil. While deflecting them with his blade, Virgil instructed his squire to fill a bucket with water and return to him. While the squire was away, the Sandwrath seemed impressed by Virgil's skill, and changed tactics often. It threw both it's Chakaram's at once, making them difficult to deflect. Then it threw them with a vertical spin, making them doubly hard to deflect. When Virgil survived these for several minutes, it changed to a melee fighter. It began to dissolve and reform very rapidly. Virgil tells that it "remained solid just long enough to strike once before dissolving again". It was like a thousand Sandwrath's attacking at once. Virgil's swordfighting prowess allowed him to parry every single strike. It was at this moment that the Sandwrath began to show heightened annoyance and aggression. The Sandwrath reformed a short ways away, and began to form darts from the sand, which flew at Virgil from all angles. Virgil thought quickly, taking off his mitheral platebody, and used it as a shield to "catch" the darts, which demateralised soon after contact. The Sandwrath stayed there, as if pondering what to do next. Virgil's squire, upon being signaled, sneaked up on the Sandwrath, and threw the water over it's head. The sand solidified and stuck together, meaning the Sandwrath couldn't dissolve. As it lay there, Virgil decapitated it with his blade. The Mega-Wrath They thought they had won, but as Virgil and his squire began to return home, a sudden sandstorm arose. It knocked Virgil's blade from his hand and actually took him up into the air. When the Sand cleared, Virgil found himself suspended in the air by floating sand shackles. And the Sandwrath had grown. An estimated 1/5 of the deserts sand was sculpted into the Sandwrath, which looked the same as it's smaller counterpart. This Sandwrath was suspected to be eighty feet high, and Virgil was suspended at nearly the same height. He was completely unable to move, and looked, aghast, as the Sandwrath swung it's mighty arm at him. It was the squire who saved his life. The squire took up Virgil's fallen blade and tossed it up into the air with inhuman strength and accuracy. The blade swung up and cut through the shackles on Virgil's right leg and arm. If the squire had thrown it an inch to the left, it would have cut through Virgil's leg and arm. But his aim was true, and as the blade fell back to earth, Virgil caught it. Seconds before the Sandwrath's fist collided with Virgil's body, he flipped over it, and slashed the Sandwrath's face. The Sandwrath writhed in pain, and gripped Virgil tightly. It would have crushed him to death, but Virgil stuck his blade through the Sandwrath's hand. Again it writhed in pain, and it threw Virgil up into the air. As the disorientated knight fell down, the Sandwrath swung it's fist again. Virgil, coming to his senses, angled his body and swerved to avoid the arm. As Virgil headed straight for The Sandwrath's head, he dug his blade into it's face. From there on, a balancing act occurred: Virgil was leaning backwards, trying to tip the creature over, while the Sandwrath swerved and swayed, trying to regain it's balance. Just as the Sandwrath found it's bearings, the squire struck again. He cast twenty-four Air Bolts in quick succession. The air blew the creature over, and it fell. Luck struck the final blow. The creature landed on it's stomach, while it's head and face (with Virgil attached) fell into the river. The water heavied the sand, and though the creature tried to lift it's head from the water, the wet sand was just to heavy. The creature drowned, and dissolved one last time. Aftermath Virgil, however, was not out of danger. He was drowning. The current wasn't strong, nor the water course. But Virgil was spent. Completely spent. He couldn't bring himself to move. Or hold his breath. Again, the squire came to the rescue. He dived in and saved his master, but the blade was lost to the river. Virgil didn't really care (despite it being in his family for generations) for he had carved himself a place in history. As had the squire. Who is no longer a squire anymore, but a great and proud knight. At first, people wouldn't believe the beast was dead. But, as more and more trading routes began to reopen without incident, even the most stubborn and pessimistic resigned (reluctantly) to the good news. Category:Coroxn's Demons Category:Bestiary